There are many computer application programs available which provide information processing tasks. Microsoft Excel, which is manufactured by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the assignee of the present invention, is one such application program that performs a variety of accounting and other information processing tasks. In application programs such as Microsoft Excel, a worksheet is typically used to store and manipulate data. One commonly used worksheet is called a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet is essentially a tabular two-dimensional grid with a finite number of columns and rows. The columns and rows of a spreadsheet intersect to form cells. The cells store data in tabular form which is displayed to the user on the spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet applications commonly allow a user to manipulate chosen data on the spreadsheet. However, in the past, adding data in tabular form to an existing graph or chart has always been a difficult process in many existing spreadsheet programs. If a user wanted to add a new data series to an existing chart or graph, that user would need to find the Edit/Series dialog in the application program and add a new data series by semi-selecting the data on the spreadsheet or the user would need to copy and paste the new data series onto the existing graph. Because using the Edit/Series dialing and the copy and paste procedures are typically complicated and understood by only experienced spreadsheet users, many users often recreate the chart or graph rather than execute the complicated procedures if a new data series needs to be added to a chart or graph.
Prior spreadsheet software provides a drag and drop process for adding data to an existing tabular chart. The drag and drop process simply allows a spreadsheet user to move various data on a spreadsheet to merge with other corresponding data. For instance, a new data series or data point may be added to a chart or graph by creating the single data series or data point, dragging it to the chart or graph, and dropping it on the chart or graph such that it becomes incorporated into the chart or graph.
Referring to the charts marked FIG. 1A-C, FIG. 1A is a tabular chart showing the sales of widgets 1-6 for years 1990 and 1991. If new data for these widgets is acquired or has been previously located in another area on the spreadsheet, for example data for year 1992, that particular column can be created or retrieved, dragged to the initial chart, FIG. 1A, and incorporated into the chart as shown in FIG. 1B. In a similar manner, it is possible to drag and drop data with respect to an additional widget, such as widget 7 as shown in FIG. 1C. Although the drag and drop process in prior spreadsheet software permits the user to add data without having to use the Edit/Series dialog or without having to copy and paste, both of which require the user to be familiar with a variety of functions, keys and edit commands, the drag and drop process does not provide a way to incorporate data from a tabular chart into a non-tabular chart, such as a bar-type chart. Although the drag and drop process can be useful to move existing data to combine with other existing data, the format of the combined data must directly correspond to the data with which it is being combined, i.e. tabularized data can only be combined with other tabularized data.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a drag and plot process which is capable of allowing a spreadsheet user to drag tabularized data from a first tabularized chart to drop and incorporate that data onto another existing non-tabularized chart, such as a bar chart with bars generated which correspond to the dragged tabularized data.